Hi all,
What a good thread, but there's one thing which always gets over looked when looking at peoples portfolios. With loads of kids leaving "3D" college, the market is swamped but there is a general trend with most of these guys which seems to appear quite allot. That would be the lack of drawing skills!
You cant possible be able to get into the industry without them. A portrait artist will not touch oils until having spent years studying form through pencil and charcoal drawings, the same applies to 3D work.
You need to understand the intricate fundamentals of form, texture composition and these skills are even more important then using the software itself. Spend a good 2/3 years drawing and observing the world whilst trying to get your head round Maya!

Draw and observe